Over 100 beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) can legally travel internationally for the first time starting this week, after a judge granted their request for a special permit to re-enter the United States.
Why it matters: Nearly 700,000 people in the program would normally face deportation if they left the U.S. for educational trips or family emergencies like grandparents’ funerals.
- But a group of new graduates has just received authorizations that sometimes take over two years to process, after successfully suing immigration officials to expedite the so-called advance paroles.
The big picture: DACA recipients, most of whom only know the United States as home, have temporary work or study permits but await a more stable future with a proposed path to citizenship.
- The measure is highly popular with the U.S. public but is currently stuck in Congress.
